Lockheed Martin – TATA Partnership For F-16 Will Be A Win- Win For US & India: Dr Keoki Jackson

Shailesh Kumar, National Defence
New Delhi, 26 July 2017
Dr Keoki Jackson, Chief Technology Officer, Lockheed Martin says that if F-16 fighter jet is selected by India then partnership between Lockheed Martin and TATA will be a win- win situation for both US and India. Last month during Paris Air Show, US defence major Lockheed Martin and defence arm of TATA had entered into a partnership program for joint production and export of F-16 under “Make In India” program of PM Modi.

“This partnership will support the enhancement of Indian manufacturing engineering, create new expertise, and engineering jobs in both nations, for the strengthening of historic relationship between India and the US”, said Dr Keoki Jackson, Chief Technology Officer of Lockheed Martin, which produces F-16 fighter jets.
(Watch at 08:05 – 08:35)

Dr Keoki Jackson was addressing the top winners of University Challenge & Open Innovation Challenge Winners of India Innovation Growth Program IIGP 2.0 first time launched With TATA.

India will co-host the Global Entrepreneurship Summit with United States of America for the first time in South Asia, MaryKay Loss Carlson, Chargé d’Affaires US Embassy informed while felicitating winners of IIGP 2.0 in New Delhi.

“I want to first acknowledge Lockheed Martin for the partnership which you have with US Government but also this new reboot with Tata Industries for IIGP 2.0. These two companies exemplify the great things that can happen when our two countries are in strategic partnership for their dynamic co-operations, enterprising peoples and innovative entrepreneurs collaborate”, said MaryKay Loss Carlson, US Ambassador to India.

“Our countries will jointly host the next global entrepreneurship summit this fall. This summit which United States has been hosting for the 7 years will be co-hosted with India for the first time in South Asia. The summit will put together the entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, academics and government officials from around the world to promote new ideas. The summit from US side will be led by Ivanka Trump”.

The top winners from the University Challenge and Open Innovation Challenge of the India Innovation Growth Programme 2.0 (IIGP 2.0) were announced in New Delhi today. Over 1300 applications for innovative ideas across social and industrial sectors were received. From the more than 1300 applications, 50 innovators were invited to participate in a week-long advanced training session covering the basic principles of product commercialization, readiness for market, business models, intellectual property rights and competitive positioning by faculty members from the IIM(A).

IIGP 2.0 has also been supported by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) through Startup India. They will be registering fifty startups that are part of the final stage of IIGP.

Following presentations on their ideas in front of an esteemed judges panel, 10 innovators were declared winners of the IIGP award for 2017. This includes a certificate and a cash award of INR 10 lakh each to winners of the University Challenge and up to INR 25 lakh each to winners of the Open Innovation Challenge as Upspeed Funding.

The winning innovations of IIGP 2.0, 2017 provide technologies that can facilitate the promising missions of the government of India, including, Swachch Bharat – Clean India, Green India, Make in India, Digital India, and the recently adopted Healthy India. The IIGP through its past and present winners is striving to strengthen these flagship government initiatives by being a technology enabler.

Speaking on the occassion, VR Mehta, trustee, Tata Trust, said that Tata trust has been in the fore front of supporting Science & Technology innovations in the country. “We are pleased to partner with the department of Science and Technology, Government of India, and the aerospace giant Lockheed Martin Corporation to further strengthen the startup ecosystem in the country through new IIGP”, said VR Mehta, man behind Jaipur Foot, a boon for war injured.

“Through the India Innovation Growth Programme, we challenge innovators to bring forth ideas and innovations that will shape India’s industrial future,” said Lockheed Martin Chief Technology Officer Keoki Jackson. “This is a tremendous partnership between government, academia and industry as well as a primary example of how we are supporting Make in India’s goal to position the country as a hub for global manufacturing.”

Congratulating the IIGP winners, Harkesh Mittal, Adviser, Member Secretary, National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), Department of Science & Technology, Government of India said, “the technologies on display during the competition ensure us that India is sitting on a goldmine of talent. Through IIGP, we hope to inspire a new wave of technological development and find solutions to problems facing India and the world.”

The event was attended by Union Minister of State for Science & Technology & Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan.

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Editor, National Defence

National Defence (Fight For India) is the initiative of independent Indian journalist Shailesh Kumar, a Strategic Alarmist and National Interest Crusader. With 15 years of media experience, Shailesh Kumar has previously worked with leading television brands.